Best Photography Hashtags – Instagram Tips for Photographers

Love them or hate them, hashtags can make or break your social media. We’ve got you covered though. Let us show you how to make photography hashtags work for instead of against you.
Everything you need to know is right here.
We’re your one-stop shop for all things photography. That’s why we’ll end this article with 20 best hashtags for all photography fields.
Yes, all.

Why Do Hashtags Matter?

Gain More Likes

Instagram users generally have one or two particular fields that they focus on. And they’ll search for hashtags that relate to those.
Using Instagram hashtags will give you the chance to find others with the same interests.
In turn, those users and followers will find out more about your brand.

Gain More Followers

Those users who have an interest in a specific niche are always looking for more and more content. Hashtags for photography are one of the best ways to gain a larger following online.
Your content will reach more people. Users will come across your account through relevant photography hashtags. This makes them more likely to follow your account.

Make More Sales

Instagram photography hashtags aren’t only for gaining more likes or followers. You can also direct them to your e-commerce business account.
Use specific niche hashtags when promoting one of your products or images. You’ll likely grab attention from other users. These people may be looking to buy something related to your content.
Here, you’ll be able to boost your store’s sales with a good strategy. Use compelling content followed by well thought out Instagram photography hashtags.

What Makes a Good Hashtag

A hashtag may have many posts. That doesn’t mean it is the right fit for you to gain followers and likes. The bigger the following, the more people using that specific hashtag.
The only thing this ensures is that your image will fall into the deep crevices of Instagram. Gone.
There are several factors to consider. The hashtag’s post sum, the quality of the image’s content and the engagement of its community.
I find that niche photography hashtags are the best, as those who search for them are more likely to care.
These are real people and not spambots. Also, don’t post to Instagram photography hashtags that hold over five million posts. No one will ever see it.
Your aim is to keep your image at the top of the hashtag as long as possible. This is why niche photography hashtags are better.

Hashtag Generator

We don’t recommend using hashtag generators. But they can generate specific and important hashtags for Instagram.TagBlender – A hashtag generator tool that will source hashtags. It will bring a high engagement rate to your social media content. Here, you’ll be able to generate the perfect set of Instagram hashtags such as ‘portrait’, ‘fashion’ or ‘art’. It is free and simple to use.HashtagsForLikes – This is a great tool for generating Instagram photography hashtags. Especially for your e-commerce business’ social media accounts. It is also easy to use.InstagramTags – The InstagramTags tool helps entrepreneurs access ready-made sets of popular hashtags. You can find different fields from ‘astrophotography’ to ‘wildlife’. More hashtags for photography means more likes. This helps you grow your store’s presence.Seekmetrics – This is an analytics tool. It gives you comparative metrics you can use to see how you are performing. This Instagram hashtag generator uses the Instagram API.All Hashtag – This tool allows you to create and analyse the top relevant hashtags. It curates hashtags based on a selected keyword that you enter yourself.

How to Use Photography Hashtags

Themed Hashtags

The hashtag #photography has 252 million posts that people make every second. Your image will disappear within 30 seconds. Your best bet is small, targeted hashtags.
Only use two or three of the biggest Instagram photography hashtags. Keep the others small. Something like #streets_storytelling will keep your image for longer than a few minutes.
A themed hashtag means users find posts they are already looking for. Using tags such as #streetportraits rather than #street will benefit you in many ways.

Mind Your Location

Always remember to add your location to a hashtag. This will help people within your location to find your page. If you are promoting a business, providing a location lets people know where you operate.
Here, you will find a large number of subscribers who live in or visit this area. This is important for those who run a portrait or travel business. It’s less so for a food or product photography blog.

Use More Than One

Using one hashtag is for people who already feel like they have enough followers. If you limit your photography hashtags, you are also limiting your audience.
Posts with 10 or more hashtags reach an average of 31k per post. Posts with one hashtag reach around 12k per post, which is less than half.

Create Your Own Photography Hashtags

Creating your own photography hashtags has its benefits. You are the only one to use it, so other users don’t have to sift through other posts.
You will need to try hard to push this hashtag otherwise people won’t be able to find it. Plus, there is nothing stopping others from joining once it picks up speed.
You can create a community using this hashtag, where you can feature people on your wall. The more people use it and share it, the more people will use it and share it.

Instagram Marketing

Instagram is a great marketing platform, but you don’t need us to tell you that. You can use it to bring clients to your established business, grow traffic and make sales. You can even get sponsored by companies.
Other people use their following to advertise products.
This is something you need to take advantage of to grow your base, put your name out there and make some money.
There are 800 million monthly active users. You will need to present your best work for the best chance at getting spotted or featured.

When to Post

There are different schools of thought on what the best time to post images on Instagram is. It also seems to change each year. This could be down to our habits, or the many changes Instagram has been going through in recent years.
The times also change depending on your location (US vs. Europe) and your topic. I remember last year, the best times to post were in the morning, as people trudged to work.
7.30 or 8 am was perfect for me, as it went out before people made their way to work in the UK.
Now it seems that lunch and after work are the best times to post for the US. If you are in the UK, but your biggest audience is in the US, we recommend getting an Instagram Scheduler.
You’ll find yourself posting at all sorts of crazy times to make up for the time difference.
Above are the best times to share your images on Instagram, for both the US and UK. London is five hours ahead of New York, and eight hours of Los Angeles.
You can use Instagram’s native analytics to find out where your biggest audience is. And share your images according to their location.

How to Use Stories

An Instagram story is a way to share photos or videos with your followers for up to 24 hours. These then disappear, and are no longer available.
Adding media to these stories has never been easier. Tap the ‘+’ button on the top left-hand corner of the app on your Instagram Homepage. You can either capture new content or add it from your photo library.
You also have a multitude of different editing options. This includes a range of filters and an array of other possible enhancements.

How to Maximise Your Reach

Engage Followers
One way to cement your support from existing followers is to engage with them. If you like what they post, follow them. If they posted ‘congrats’ or an interesting comment, be sure to reply or give it a ‘like’.Post Often
Frequent posting is the hardest thing to do, yet it is one of the key methods of success. Compelling content on a frequent basis brings a higher chance of engaging users. That includes both viewers and potential customers. Posting once a month is not enough.Keep an Eye on the Competition
Look at what your competition is doing. Are they writing stories about their posts? Are they asking questions? Do they have interesting photography hashtags? Make a note of what you like and use it to your advantage.Be Critical of Your Visual Content
If you want to get noticed, then your work needs to be at the top of its game. Post only your best images.

How to Get Featured on a Popular Instagram Account

Getting featured on a popular Instagram account is a great way to get your image out there. One of my favorite accounts is @accidentallywesanderson. They show images that could be set in a Wes Anderson film.
People attach the hashtag #AccidentallyWesAnderson, which shows up on a separate, searchable page. From there, the account is then free to pick and choose which images they want to feature.
The average likes for these images hit the 20,000 mark. That is a lot of exposure for one image. The account itself has 440,000 followers, which again provides a huge network to share to. There are many other accounts that hit way above this amount.@streetphotographyinternational is another one of my favorites, where they have 633k followers. It isn’t uncommon for images to hit over 30k likes.
We recommend that you find a list of accounts that you would like to be featured on. Find out which Instagram photography hashtags you need to use for them to see your image. Don’t give up and keep trying.
The bigger the account and follower base, the more images they are going to receive. This means they need to sift through hundreds if not thousands of images daily. Keep in mind they tend to only post one or two a day.

Banned Photography Hashtags

There are banned hashtags and these come from a wide range of topics. They’ve been banned due to misuse. Or users have added unrelated images, or even shown undesirable images, spam or worse. Research and make sure you don’t waste space by using them.
#adultlife #beautyblogger #curvy #dating #elevator #fitnessgirls #girlsonly
#hardworkpaysoff #instamood #killingit #like #models #nasty #pornfood
#sunbathing #thought #undies #valentinesday #workflow

Conclusion

Instagram, love it or hate it. Regardless, it’s here to stay. It was recently bought out by Facebook, so expect things to change like they always have.
If you have or want to create a photographic business, then Instagram can be an essential tool.
To get the best from Instagram, you need to understand how hashtags work. Also at what time images will gain the biggest audience and how to deal with your competition.
We have provided a general idea of help, now you need to attach that concept to your own work and niche.
Our tips are simple but thorough. Follow our recommendations and put them into practise. See you out there.
P.S. follow us @expertphotography.Want to know more Instagram tips? Check out our new post on how to edit Instagram photos in Lightroom next!
And if you’re still around, check out this video.

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About the Author

Craig is a photographer currently based in Budapest. His favourite photographic areas are street and documentary photography. Show him a darkroom and he'll be happy there for days. As long as there are music and snacks. Find him at craighullphotography.co.uk and Instagram/craighullphoto